Every year at this time I like to rank each team’s top prospects. My criteria is based upon both past performance and future potential to his parent team. This is my ranking of the 2012 Chicago White Sox Top Prospects.

To qualify, a prospect must have fewer than 130 at-bats or 50 innings in MLB

Disclaimer – I did not attend any minor league games this year, nor do I claim to have any scouting experience. These lists are the product of my own research of statistics and online scouting reports.

With the 2011 minor league season complete we check in on the progress of each of the Chicago White Sox preseason Top 15 prospects as ranked by our prospect ranker J.P. Schwartz. The post season grading report was done by the publisher of Top Prospect Alert, not Mr. Schwartz, and reflects only the 2011 season and not future upside or downside of the individual prospect. Our 2012 preseason rankings will be published in the coming months.

#1 Chris SaleGRADE A
Through September 10th Sale has gone 2-1 with 6 saves in 52 appearances for the White Sox. He has walked 22 and struck out 71 in 64 big league innings. Big leaguers are hitting just .200 against Sale.

#3 Brent MorelGRADE B-
Through September 10th Morel has batted .254 with 15 Doubles, 1 Triple, 5 Home Runs and 30 RBI’s for the White Sox. He has walked 12 times and struck out 47 times in 358 big league at-bats.

#4 Tyler FlowersGRADE C+
Flowers hit .261 with 8 Doubles, 15 Home Runs and 32 RBI’s for the Triple-A Charlotte Knights. He struck out 84 times in 65 games. At the big league level through September 10th, Flowers was hitting .210 with 4 Doubles, 1 Triple, 3 Home Runs, and 10 RBI’s in 27 Games.

#5 Eduardo EscobarGRADE B-
Escobar batted .266 with 23 Doubles, 4 Triples, 4 Home Runs, and 49 RBI for Triple-A Charlotte. Through September 10th he was 1-3 in three big league at-bats.

#6 Dayan ViciedoGRADE A
Viciedo batted .296 with 28 Doubles, 20 Home Runs, and 78 RBI’s for Triple-A Charlotte. He walked 45 times and struck out 83 times in 119 games. The .296 average was a career high. In the big leagues through September 10th Viciedo was hitting .356 with 1 Double, 1 Home Run, and 4 RBI’s in 45 at-bats.

#7 Jacob PetrickaGRADE B-
Petricka went a combined 7-8 with a 3.35 ERA between the Low-A Kannapolis Intimidators and High-A Winston Salem. He walked 39 and struck out 99 in 113.1 innings. Opposing batters hit .262 off Petricka on the season.

#8 Addison ReedGRADE A+
Reed went a combined 2-1 with 5 Saves and 1.26ERA between Low-A Kannapolis, High-A Winston Salem, the Double-A Birmingham Barons, and Triple-A Charlotte. He walked 14 and struck out 111 batters in 78.1 innings. Opposing minor league hitters batted just .157 off Reed. Through September 10th Reed was 0-0 with a 3.38ERA and 6 strikeouts in 2.2 innings with the big league White Sox.

#9 Gregory InfanteGRADE B
Infante went a combined 3-4 with 11 saves and a 2.54ERA between Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte. He walked 28 and 54 strikeouts in 63.2 innings. Opposing hitters batted just .235 off Infante.

#10 Trayce ThompsonGRADE B
Thompson batted .241 with 36 Doubles, 2 Triples, 24 Home Runs and 87RBI’s for Low-A Kannapolis. He walked 60 times and struck out 172 times in 136 games.

#11 Jon GilmoreGRADE B-
Gilmore who was out much of the season, batted .283 with 13 Doubles, 1 Triple, 3 Home Runs, and 28 RBI’s in 50 games for Double-A Birmingham.

#12 Brandon ShortGRADE B-
Short batted .262 with 29 Doubles, 5 Triples, 13 Home Runs and 60 RBI’s for Double-A Birmingham. He also had 21 stolen bases on the season.

#13 Matt HeidenreichGRADE C
Heidenreich went 10-10 with a 4.32ERA for Low-A Kannapolis. He walked 31 and struck out 101 batters in 154.1 innings. Opposing batters hit .277 off Heidenreich.